1974 Skull Cup Ad

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

Famous Monsters Skull Cup Ad
(Click for high rez!)

"Drinking from this cup with impress your friends and get you girlfriends!"

"A big four and half inches tall!" Hey, I wouldn't brag about that if I were you.

The ads in the pages of Famous Monsters were part of the fun of the magazine for us Monster Kids. Although in my case I never could order anything, just reading them was enough. And oddly, they're even more fun to read now, for the nostalgia they evoke.

By now we've generally seen and probably own on DVD most of the films in the articles. The pictures and articles no longer represent a glimpse of unknown adventures we long to see. But the ads still have the bit of mystery about them because most are for items we never acquired.

The enjoyment of the ads now also stem from the text copy. Tell me you didn't grin just a little as you read the ad above! "Horribly frightening!" "You'll scare the death out of friends and family!" Good stuff... and back then, we believed it.

I'm sure that someone has already posted this ad somewhere on a blog... these old FM ads are popular. But I went through my FM issue #107, May of 1974, and I enjoyed re-reading not only the mag but remembering the time I bought it. I enjoyed scanning it in, formatting it, and posting it. If for nothing but all that, it was worth it! Others will be forthcoming, as well as some from other publications of the same general time period. Hope you enjoy them too. In fact, here's one now... for a 12-inch replica of the horror within. Perfect to look at as you raise your skull cup to it in a toast.

What really attracted the kids to this was the "Free Anatomy Chart" included. Hopes of finally seeing a naked female were dashed when they realised it was a skeleton anatomy.

Below is a photo I found online of the actual cup from a Flickr page of a fan who has a lot of the Don Post masks. Check out his page for a lot of cool pics of the actual products the ads were hawking.

Image source


An earlier version of the ad when it was cheaper. Use your imagination for the ominous-sounding "anything else" it makes taste better!